52103000 Tropos MetroMesh routers combine the industry's most sophisticated mesh routing intelligence, designed from the ground up to optimize throughput in a dynamic metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh environment, with carrier-grade, purpose-built hardware platform sporting peerless Wi-Fi link budgets. Tropos MetroMesh routers can be deployed in the industry's lowest node density, providing the most economical way to implement a high-performance metro-scale Wi-Fi network. Each MetroMesh router provides wireless connectivity to standard 802.11b/g clients and extends the coverage area of the metro-scale Wi-Fi network.

Tropos™ MetroMesh™ routers combine the industry’s most sophisticated mesh routing intelligence, designed from the ground up to optimize throughput in a dynamic metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh environment, with carrier-grade, purpose-built hardware platform sporting peerless Wi-Fi link budgets. Tropos MetroMesh routers can be deployed in the industry’s lowest node density, providing the most economical way to implement a high-performance metro-scale Wi-Fi network. Each MetroMesh router provides wireless connectivity to standard 802.11b/g clients and extends the coverage area of the metro-scale Wi-Fi network.The MetroMesh OS, including the Tropos Predictive Wireless Routing Protocol (PWRP™), is the industry’s most scalable mesh routing algorithm. The Tropos 5210 outdoor MetroMesh router, utilizing the embedded PWRP, creates a self-organizing and self-healing wireless mesh, and intelligently select the most optimum data path to the wired network. Because the MetroMesh OS and PWRP do not require more than 5% of available bandwidth, networks can be easily scaled to many thousand nodes without any client throughput or network capacity degradation. The ruggedized and weatherized Tropos 5210 is NRTL certified for outdoor installation. It can be mounted on external structures such as buildings or lamp posts in under 15 minutes by a trade-level worker with one tool. The Tropos 5210 runs on a wide range of AC and DC power options and can optionally be configured with battery backup.

METROMESH ARCHITECTURE

The patented Tropos™ MetroMesh™ architecture is the key to delivering the incredible benefits of metro-scale Wi-Fi coverage. MetroMesh offers the performance, low cost, reliability and security that service providers, public safety agencies and municipalities need. MetroMesh combines the industry’s most sophisticated metro-scale mesh routing intelligence, designed from the ground up to optimize throughput in a dynamic metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh environment, with carrier-grade centralized element management and a purpose-built hardware platform with peerless Wi-Fi radio performance. The Tropos MetroMesh architecture leverages Wi-Fi to enable high-performing, safe and secure metro-scale mesh deployments that were previously difficult or impossible. The result: the fastest, lowest-cost and simplest wireless broadband solution available anywhere, with >2x the performance of other mesh routing protocols, the ability to scale to thousands of Tropos MetroMesh routers providing hundreds of square miles of contiguous coverage and up to 7x better price-performance than alternatives.

MetroMesh is key to maximizing network economics, as the software, management and hardware combine to enable the operation of multiple independent networks on a single metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh infrastructure  without compromising performance, reliability or security. Individual user communities can operate independently on the MetroMesh, segregating information access, billing, and access levels. The result is one capital investment that can be leveraged over time across a variety of customer bases, making it the most economical solution available today.

Tropos MetroMesh OS

The key to delivering high throughput and scalability is the Tropos MetroMesh OS. With 16 patents issued or applied for, MetroMesh OS is the industry’s only mesh routing software that dynamically selects end-to end paths through the mesh based on maximizing client-server throughput and minimizing latency. The result is the MetroMesh user performance that is >2x higher than alternatives. MetroMesh OS is also the industry’s only mesh routing software that maintains low protocol overhead regardless of the number of nodes in the network, using less than 5% of the aggregate bandwidth. With other mesh protocols, overhead grows as the number of network devices increases, limiting network size to tens of nodes, rather than the thousands of nodes supported by MetroMesh.

Predictive Wireless Routing Protocol (PWRP™) is the industry’s only mesh routing algorithm that select routes based n maximizing client-server throughput. The result is MetroMesh user performance that is >2x higher than alternatives with lower latency. It is also the industry’s only mesh routing protocol that maintains low protocol overhead no matter how large the network, using less than 5% of the available bandwidth. With other mesh protocols, overhead grows as the number of network devices increases, limiting network size to tens of nodes, rather than the thousands of nodes supported by MetroMesh. PWRP is the key to top performance, lowest cost, and simplest installation and expansion.

Virtual network infrastructure allows many different user communities using a metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh network to each have their own private network, offering its own address space, classes of service and security settings, running over a single metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh infrastructure. For example, in a municipal Wi-Fi network, various departments such as police, fire, emergency services, building inspections and public works could each have its own network that could be administered separately from the others with different access and security policies. The network could also be opened for public access. Each user group would be assured that their data would be isolated from other user groups. Running multiple user groups on a metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh infrastructure maximized return on investment leveraging the infrastructure investment and fixed costs across the highest possible number of users.

Metro-scale mobility enables session-persistent client mobility across a metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh network, including mobility across different IP subnets, with total transparency to clients. Metro-scale mobility maintains VPN session persistence as users move throughput the coverage area and supports mobile voice and video applications.

Multi-layer security combines time-tested and proven Internet security techniques with the inherent intelligence of MetroMesh routers to create a robust, multi-layered security framework that uses both the security features of MetroMesh routers plus best-of-breed third-party solutions.

Tropos Control Element Manager

Simple, cost-effective operation of metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh networks requires a purpose-built metro-scale Wi-Fi element manager. Tropos Control, the industry’s first purpose-built metro-scale Wi-Fi element manager, provides unrivaled scalability with proven support for very large metro-scale networks of up to thousands of nodes. With a few simple mouse clicks, network administrators can provision many networks on the metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh infrastructure, giving each its own address space, classes of service and security policies. System-wide configuration of these parameters eliminates laborious and error-prone node-by-node configuration. Tropos Control enables automated and remote configuration and updates, allowing network managers to schedule after-hours provisioning and code changes to minimize impact to network performance. It provides a geographic street map view that accurately places each Wi-Fi cell by its latitude and longitude and offers easy pan and zoom viewing capability. Using tip tools and simple mouse clicks, users can quickly look up a plethora of statistical information, as well as network traffic levels and key RF information. Statistics can be plotted in real-time and logged for export into analysis tools such as standard spreadsheets and HP OpenView.

Tropos Control Architecture
Tropos Control is built on a client/server architecture; the server collects and stores management information from devices in the network, and the Web-based clients provide a graphical user interface to the server data.

Tropos Control automatically senses new mesh routers and uploads the appropriate software and configuration data.

Minimum System Requirements

Server

512 MB RAM, Pentium III or equivalent

Windows 2000, XP

Client Workstations

256 MB RAM, Pentium II or equivalent

Windows 2000, XP

Server and client application can be run on the same machine for easy deployment

Network Monitoring
Tropos Control provides multiple graphical views of the network and its mesh router clusters, with geographical maps and global locations, to deliver at-a-glance network status and performance information to the network manager.

Tropos Control also monitors performance and identifies actual and potential problems:

Faulty or out-of-reach mesh routers

Poorly performing mesh routers

For longer-term performance analysis, Tropos Control includes a comprehensive analytical reporting system: